GUNTUR: The selection of TDP candidate for Narasaraopet Lok Sabha seat is taking more twists and turns with the resourceful candidates throwing their hat into the race in the eleventh-hour. The delay in finalization of the candidate seemed to have helped the strong candidates to jump into the scene and lobby for the ticket. Sources said that several industrialists and business people said to have directly requested the party chief Chandrababu Naidu to take their names into consideration. Interestingly, the names of such money machines were not revealed even to the local sitting MLAs as Naidu is yet to take a call on whether to consider such people at the last minute. Sources said that academician and civil services coaching centres owner Dr Para Lakshmaiah met the chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and IT minister Nara Lokesh last week and requested them to consider his name for Vinukonda assembly segment in case the sitting MLA Anjaneyulu is fielded as Loksabha candidate. Surprisingly, party believed to have taken up his name into consideration as probable for LS candidate. Following the advice from the state party office, Dr Lakshmaiah met all the MLAs and constituency in-charge and requested them to move his name for LS candidate.

MLAs said to have told him that they would back anyone fielded by party supremo. Dr Lakshamaiah has close association with the TDP for the past three decades and he was recently appointed as member of veterinary university governing council. Lakshmaiah too hails from numerically strong Kamma community. Lakshmaiah is native of Nuzendla mandal of Vinukonda constituency and has strong connections in all the villages in the segment. He worked as MPDO and Velugu project director before quitting the public services to join politics about 15 years. However, Lakshmaiah set up IAS coaching centre in Hyderabad which is considered to be one of the most sought after training institutes in Hyderabad for civils coaching. Sources said that the civil supplies minister Prattipati Pullarao is strongly backing Lakshmaish’s candidature for Narasaraopet Loksabha constituency.